Vilnius City Public Health Office “Vilnius Healthier”, in collaboration with six people well-known in public space, recorded a series of relaxation practices “Breathe Vilnius”. It is designed to mark the title of “Vilnius – European Green Capital 2025” and to invite Vilnius residents and visitors to see Vilnius from a new perspective – through meditation.

“Vilnius Healthier” team attracted six well-known voices to join the project: the singers and songwriters Gabriele Vilkickytė, Domantas Starkauskas and Sakalas Čumačenko, the historian, writer, broadcaster Robertas Petrauskas, and the journalists and news presenters Eglė Daugėlaitė and Guoda Pečiulytė.

The team of the Public Health Office generated the idea of relaxation practices already at the end of last year; and this year, in cooperation with VILNIUS TECH “LinkMenų fabrikas”, the meditations were recorded and uploaded to playlists on Spotify and Youtube platforms.

Relaxation practices focused on everyday life of a Vilnius resident: “Meditation on a trolleybus”, “Meditation in a traffic jam”, “Green capital meditation”, “Meditation in Vilnius Old Town”, “Meditation for a rushing Vilnius resident”, “Sleeping district meditation”.

Artists hope to make a rushing Vilnius resident’s day easier

Singer and songwriter Gabrielė Vilkickytė, who released the song “Trolleybus” last year, has recorded the relaxation practice “Meditation on a trolleybus”. G. Vilkickytė jokes that she has more than 15 years of experience of travelling by trolleybus. The singer shares: “I know from my own body experience how sometimes, somewhere between the familiar stops of Šilas and Kalnų Parkas the trolleybus floor can slip out from under the feet, or glucose drop, controllers get on together with my – and then breath becomes rapid and there is a feeling of blackout. A special audio meditation recorded in my voice could serve a small hint of safety. Just click a button and listen to the invitation to breathe together until the terminal stop”.

Sakalas Chumachenko, who recorded “Meditation in a traffic jam”, hopes that this practice might help discover the format of meditation and open new doors for deeper experiences.

“I am very happy to join the initiative of “Vilnius Healthier” and calm down our fellow citizens who feel anxious on the road. I hope that this soundtrack will not only help calm down in an intense traffic jam, but will also interest the listener enough to look for more serious and more demanding meditations – the ones that require solitude, silence and concentration – all things that seem unattractive or unreachable for a fast-paced man of today. If it doesn’t work, at least I’ve made you have a sigh in the car!” – S. Čumačenko reflects.

Meditations – invitation to take care of one’s emotional health

Acting Director of “Vilnius Healthier”Aurelija Šiautkulienė hopes that the meditations, presented to Vilnius residents in an attractive form will contribute to the daily improvement of their mental health.

“I would like to acknowledge the Office’s contribution to the celebration of “Vilnius – European Green Capital 2025”. I hope that this particular meditation project inviting people to explore and experience Vilnius in a new way will contribute to the mental health of Vilnius residents. We believe that meditation or relaxation practices should become more often a tool for everyone to relax in the rush of everyday life. Those few minutes of meditation can make a big difference. Indeed. I invite you to give it a try,” Šiautkulienė says.

Director of the VILNIUS TECH Creativity and Innovation Centre “LinkMenų fabrikas” Mantas Tamulionis is delighted with the collaboration and the opportunity to contribute to the meaningful project, and with the possibility to engage his students in the creation of meditation records. M. Tamulionis says: “They actually did the most work. This collaboration shows how many different projects we can implement at VILNIUS TECH “LinkMenų fabrikas” with the help of our students. Our whole team hopes that these meditations will help listeners get some peace.” “Breathe Vilnius” relaxation practices are already available on “Vilnius Healthier” Spotify and Youtube platforms.

“Vilnius Healthier” promotes sustainability all the year round. The Office focuses on educating children in the context of sustainability in the area of health, including a more sustainable diet with more vegetables, physical activity habits, disease prevention, etc. “Vilnius Healthier” also educates adults on these topics and provides practical activities that inspire them to move more sustainably, to use the city’s green spaces more actively for sport and recreation, and to make more sustainable lifestyle choices in their daily lives. For more information on “Vilnius Healthier” activities visit: www.vilniussveikiau.lt